LONG BEACH LEGENDS DINNER TO HONOR JOHNNY RUTHERFORD – AN INVITATION FROM THE PRESIDENT BOBBY RAHAL

He raced in what is called IndyCar’s golden era, when the cars were lightning fast and the drivers bad-ass – the likes of Foyt, Andretti, Parnelli, Mears and the Unsers.

And Johnny Rutherford not only ran with that fast crowd, he kicked some serious butt along the way, outracing them all to three victories in the Indianapolis 500.

Lone Star Johnny came up the hard way, racing sprint cars and modifieds. In 1963, driving for the legendary Smokey Yunick, he became the youngest driver to win a NASCAR race.

Two years later, he won the USAC Sprint Car Championship. And the next year he broke both arms when his car flipped over the fence and out of Eldora Speedway.

His breakthrough at Indy came in the mid-1970s when he drove for McLaren and delivered two Indy 500 wins and a second place over three consecutive years. In 1980 he slipped behind the wheel of Jim Hall’s “Yellow Submarine” Chaparral and torpedoed the competition, winning the series championship and dominating on the ovals.

Johnny was quite an accomplished road racer as well, driving a Porsche 935 to second in the 1978 Daytona 24 Hours.

But the legend of JR is about more than just race victories, it’s about the man – the champion who always has time to sign an autograph or pose for a selfie. He’s been the ultimate ambassador for our sport.

This year the RRDC is proud to honor Johnny Rutherford at our 10th Annual Legends Dinner at Long Beach where he’ll join an elite group of honorees, including the late Dan Gurney, Mario Andretti, Roger Penske and Jim Hall.

We hope you will join us for another great evening of camaraderie and tall tales about one of racing’s greatest eras.

Outdoor cocktails featuring some very cool race cars will commence at 6:00; dinner is at 7:15 sharp.